Early this morning, the Edmonton Oilers reached out to the past to address a current need. Welcome newest Edmonton Oiler--and a blast from the past--Ralph Intranuovo.

In 1992's NHL Entry Draft, the Edmonton Oilers selected OHA phenom Ralph Intranuovo. He was a speed demon with exceptional vision, and although he never had an impact at the NHL level (22 career games, 6 points) the East York, Ontario native proved to be an exceptional AHL player. By the late 90's he'd left his NHL career far behind--so he thought--and played hockey at a high level in Germany, Austria and most recently Italy.

The now 36-year old was winding down his playoffs with the Asiago team in the Italian league when he started noticing a few faces that seemed familiar. "I looked out in the crowd one night and saw a couple of Edmonton Oiler scouts. I told (teammate) Michael Henrich that Edmonton was here looking at someone but he didn't believe me."

It was Intranuovo the club was looking at, as the Oilers scouts raved about his still exceptional speed. At age 36, the 5.08 187 pound Intranuovo could still race down the ice, curl just past the blueline and set up the offense. It was that skill that led the Oilers to believe the veteran player could help their NHL powerplay.

The Oilers aren't certain when he'll play, but it could be as early as Saturday. New Oilers scout Larry Prevaricator was credited with finding the gem, although many (older) Oilers scouts saw him good before the signing.

Lowetide has been one of the Oilogosphere's shining lights for over a century. You can check him out here at OilersNation and at lowetide.ca. He is also the host of Lowdown with Lowetide weekday mornings 10-noon on TSN 1260.

But seriously, how is someone so good in the minors and no good at the next level? Shouldn't you be at least some good? Giroux? I don't get it. I'm not saying I'm shocked he didn't make, I'm shocked that it wasn't even close.

I was thinking to myself, 5.08 and 187 pounds and an aging vet with suspect numbers sounded like a perfect fit. Haha, how sad it is right now!

P.S - I'm back in town from 3 weeks of sun and booze filled holidays driving from Edmonton to Arizona and back up again. And man, the wife and I were disappointed to pull into the acreage and see that the snow in the yard looks to be almost as much as when we left! Crazy!!

We put on 6900 kms for the total trip. Travelled with our two little boys, thank G for DVD headrests! We tried to break up the driving as much as possible but it was still alot of time on the road and the kids were real troopers! Hit some nice spots along the way, (Vegas and Palm Springs, Southern California and Arizona) and got some nice sun in.

I went out solo in Vegas one night and ended up playing roulette next to a black dude from Compton who sounded exactly like 2Pac. He was hilarious! Once he got to the table we both got on a roll. We were fist bumping and cheers'ing and dranking it up! He said he wants to come up to Canada one day and I said I wanted to go to Compton. We were both confused after we said that. haha! Good times!

I was thinking to myself, 5.08 and 187 pounds and an aging vet with suspect numbers sounded like a perfect fit. Haha, how sad it is right now!

P.S - I'm back in town from 3 weeks of sun and booze filled holidays driving from Edmonton to Arizona and back up again. And man, the wife and I were disappointed to pull into the acreage and see that the snow in the yard looks to be almost as much as when we left! Crazy!!

We put on 6900 kms for the total trip. Travelled with our two little boys, thank G for DVD headrests! We tried to break up the driving as much as possible but it was still alot of time on the road and the kids were real troopers! Hit some nice spots along the way, (Vegas and Palm Springs, Southern California and Arizona) and got some nice sun in.

I went out solo in Vegas one night and ended up playing roulette next to a black dude from Compton who sounded exactly like 2Pac. He was hilarious! Once he got to the table we both got on a roll. We were fist bumping and cheers'ing and dranking it up! He said he wants to come up to Canada one day and I said I wanted to go to Compton. We were both confused after we said that. haha! Good times!

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In a shocking turnabout, Quebecor Media Inc. announced today that they had signed an agreement with owners of the Edmonton Oilers National Hockey League (NHL) franchise to buy the team for approximately $275 million.
Quebecor will transfer the franchise to Quebec City, Quebec, in time for the 2011-12 NHL season. Quebecor Media, a company started in 1950 by Pierre Péladeau, already owns and operates a vast communications empire mostly in Québec and the rest of Canada. The company has already purchased the naming rights to the new arena being built in Quebec City.
Quebecor President Pierre-Karl Péladeau.(CBC)The NHL will play at the Colisée Pepsi until the Quebecor Center's proposed opening for the 2015-16 season. A news conference will be held in Quebec City within a few weeks to introduce key members of the hockey organization to the community.
Quebec City lost its beloved Nordiques to Colorado in the 1990s. The Nordiques joined the NHL in 1979 and finished the 1994-95 season with the second-best record in the league before moving to Denver.
Negotiations for the purchase of the Edmonton Oilers were concluded at Quebecor's Montreal headquarters Wednesday afternoon and approved by the company's Board of Directors on Thursday morning. The transaction and transfer fees, if any, are subject to approval by the NHL Board of Governors.
More to come.

I am glad I do not pay taxes in Edmonton, because if I had Id be outraged. Im like anyone else feeling that I want an arena, but enough with the tax payers shelling out money for this.
I understand the econmonic development and boost to the economy, the attractiveness to people to come, live, and work in Edmonton and Alberta, and I really don't want to become a bigger Winnipeg. Winnipeggers are literally begging to be put on the map again. The Oilers are integral to our identity and culture. I buy a ticket here and there as anyone else does. Ill pay a surcharge for my ticket, but don't tax people for something that private funds should be putting up. I don't understand why rich billionaires are trying to pad there pockets on the backs of ordinary joes. Sell shares instead, I'd fork over some coin to be a part owner. Anyways I realize my argumetn is way to simplistic, I just don't agree with this. And Katz can spare me the Oilers leaving scare tactics. don'thttp://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/City+unveils+levy+Edmonton+arena/4536445/story.html

The way I read it, they only want to tax the downtown area that needs revitalizing from 97th to 109th street, and 102th to 104th ave anyways. If there must be taxpayer funding, it makes sense to me to collect it from people actually living in the area that will benefit from it.

I was buying it. I thought it was an effort to free up a player to go to OKC - the part about him helping the power play confused me, but I admit - half asleep and dozy - I didn't figure it out until the first comment.

Glad to hear I wasn't the only one who got suckered. Well played Lowetide. Who's coming back next? Jason Bonsingore? Steve Kelly? How about that Miknov dude?

I didn't bite for a second on Intranuovo, but I confess I might have fallen victim (for a minute or two anyway) if the story had been about Mikhnov. I always really wished he would turn into some kind of closet Pavel Bure that take this team back into contention. And then . . . well, he just kind of faded into the twisting nether . . .

As a couple of other people have pointed out, if there was ever a year where you could just about believe that Jason Maas was signed to quarterback the powerplay, this would be the year.

Isn't the argument that this facility will benefit the city and the people that live here? I believe this to be true and don't mind my tax dollars going to pay for it.

I don't mind them paying for the art gallery I will probably never go to, or to put city services in neighborhoods I will never visit.

But it benefits the city.

True, but Daryl Katz isn't getting rich off of the art gallery, or those services. The problem many people, me anyways, have isn't that I don't want to help pay for the arena.\, it's more I don't see why I should pay to make a rich guy richer. If the building is such a fool-proof investment, why aren't private backers lining up? Is the city going to see a proportionate share of the revenues?

True, but Daryl Katz isn't getting rich off of the art gallery, or those services. The problem many people, me anyways, have isn't that I don't want to help pay for the arena.\, it's more I don't see why I should pay to make a rich guy richer. If the building is such a fool-proof investment, why aren't private backers lining up? Is the city going to see a proportionate share of the revenues?

These might be stupid questions, I'm not paying close attention.

What about if Daryl Katz says that he will build an ugly barn like arena just outside of Edmonton (by the Anthony Henday) like the Ottawa situation for $250 million, is there enough public benefit for you to see the development be downtown and be spectacular?

I think Katz should say that he is willing to move the Oilers, but should be talking about St.Albert, Spruce Grove, Parkland County, etc, not Quebec.